On this day Monday January 16, 2006........................................
When Christopher Columbus set sail today in 1493 from Hispaniola (now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he left behind a garrison of 39 Spaniards - in effect, the first true colony in the New World, predating Sir Walter Raleigh's Roanoke by 91 years. Like Raleigh's colony, however,... Sign in to see full entry.